The present invention relates generally to barbecue grills and summer stoves and more particularly to a gas burning grill having separately adjustable left and right grilling surfaces and having a removable heat shield therebetween for impeding heat transfer between the left and right sides. The individual grill sections are independently adjustable in height and cooperate to provide two cooking surfaces having uniform grill rod spacing at either height.
Most gas barbecue grills popular today comprise a metal casting which carries a burner assembly and a cooking grill positioned above the burner assembly. Usually the casting is provided with a hingedly attached lid which can be lowered to create an oven space. Usually fuel is supplied to the burner assembly from a pressurized canister with metering valve to control the fuel flow and thus the heat output.
Anyone who has ever thrown a barbecue party for family or friends knows that one must be prepared to cook a variety of foods ranging from hamburgers and hot dogs to thick-cut steaks and chops and whole chickens or other poultry. The desire to cook different types of foods, which may have widely differing cooking times and temperature requirements, has created a need for an improved barbecue grill capable of simultaneously providing different cooking temperatures. Prior art grills have been generally deficient in this regard, particularly when the lid is closed. With the lid closed, temperatures within the oven space tend to become uniform throughout, notwithstanding the height of the grill cooking surface above the burner.
To overcome the disadvantages of prior art barbecue grills, the present invention employs a heat shield which is removably carried in the lower containment portion defined by the lower casting. The heat shield divides the lower containment casting into left and right portions with individuals left and right grills disposed in each.
The grills are adjustable to different heights above the burner assembly. Each grill comprises a plurality of parallel rods spaced a predetermined distance apart and extending generally front to rear relative to the lower containment casting. At each height, the rods of each grill extend front to rear, thereby facilitating the use of spatula cooking implements.
The heat shield is held in place by a supporting fixture which defines a generally vertically arranged slot for receiving and supporting the heat shield. The supporting fixture has a horizontally disposed cooking surface which cooperates with the left and right cooking grills so that when the left and right grills are positioned side by side and adjacent the supporting fixture cooking surface, both the grills and the cooking surface lie in a common horizontal plane characterized by parallel rods of equal spacing. When the heat shield is removed and the left and right grills are positioned parallel to one another and above the cooking surface of the supporting fixture, the same inter-rod spacing is maintained. The left and right grills can also be placed at different heights to define two different horizontal planes, if desired.
The heat shield comprises a pair of plates which, when installed in the supporting fixture, are held to define an insulating air space between. The plates may be removed, even while hot, by a detachable lifting tool for storage beneath the framework which supports the containment casting at the cooking height. The heat shield plates are of the appropriate size and shape to substantially conform to the lower containment casting and also to the upper lid, to thereby divide the oven space into two. The plates may be removed and placed upon the grill surfaces where they aid in cleaning the cooking surface by reflecting and conducting heat onto the cooking surface.
For a more complete understanding of the invention, its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following specification and to the accompanying drawings.